


Matryoshka

by CharleyFoxtrot



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Discrimination against assassins?, Gen, Licensing Deals, Post-Winter Soldier, Pre-Age of Ultron, Sexism, Toys, minor Age of Ulron spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-20
Updated: 2015-05-20
Packaged: 2018-03-31 11:58:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,367
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3977206
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CharleyFoxtrot/pseuds/CharleyFoxtrot
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Avengers make a merchandising deal. Black Widow doesn’t care that she’s not included -- <i>really</i>.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Matryoshka

**Author's Note:**

  * For [patrickohenry](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=patrickohenry).



> This takes place sometime after Cap 2 and the fall of SHIELD. It pulls from info gleaned from Age of Ultron but it either happens prior to it or AoU never occurs. Whichever you believe is up to your preference. Also because Nat leaked all of the SHIELD secrets to the world, everyone here is operating under the knowledge that Coulson was brought back to life, because fuck Joss Whedon.
> 
> Much thanks to [betsybugaboo](http://betsybugaboo.tumblr.com/), [alyssabethancourt](http://alyssabethancourt.tumblr.com/), and [pterrablepterodactyls](http://pterriblepterodactyls.tumblr.com/) for awesome beta-reads!
> 
> This fic is a commission-gift for [patrickohenry](http://patrickohenry.tumblr.com/), who sent me an _amazing_ prompt. Thank you!

If Bruce thought about it long enough he might Hulk out, so he didn’t like to dwell on it for long.

The rest of the Avengers didn’t really enjoy thinking about it either.

It boggled the mind -- how the _hell_ had Tony Stark managed to obtain all trademark and copyright ownership for the Avengers, as a group? There _had_ to be some sort of foul legal play in action.

Rhodey and Sam summed it up pretty succinctly while sipping on beers and watching Cap and Thor trying to out-drink each other, which was the usual result of the Avengers pondering the legal rights thing for too long.

“White people are crazy,” Sam said.

“Yeah. Yeah they are,” Rhodey replied. They clinked the necks of their beers together in a toast to the fucked-up legal system.

( _Tasha_ knew how it happened; she was friends with Pepper, after all, and in his own weird way Tony was trying to protect the team. He did things like this for people he cared about, even if they irritated the shit out of him -- bought them strange stuffed animals and remembered that strawberries were important _somehow_ ; set up a scholarship and internship program for Stark Industries so that some day in the future, a boy from Tennessee and his little sister could get the education they desired; made a large and not-so-secret donation to the Wounded Warrior Project in the name of and to honor one Andrew Riley. Securing the rights to their images so that his team of legal representation could protect those images was really right in-line with what Tasha knew about Tony Stark’s behavior.)

What this meant is that Stark Industries held all legal rights to all of the Avengers, their images, and their logo as of sometime toward the end of 2013, and that of any new member of the Avengers team (including the recently-inducted War Machine and Falcon), and the rights to those affiliated with the Avengers. Even _Tasha_ wasn’t sure how he’d procured the right to Cap’s image from the federal government, since she was pretty sure Rhodes hadn’t helped and both Fury and Coulson would have shit a brick if they’d known.

They’d be even more furious if they knew he’d obtained the rights to _their_ images too.

It worked in their favor a lot -- people had to go through Tony’s company for PR, and if Tony called and said no, it wasn’t happening. No one got pestered by paparazzi because no one ignores a cease-and-desist order from Stark Industries, formerly an international weapons manufacturer. Stalkers got _dealt with_. So, there _were_ bonuses.

Still, it galled to know that Tony _technically_ had the right to make a Hulk blow-up sex toy if he wanted. And _everyone_ swore to themselves that they wouldn’t plant the idea in his head because they just _knew_ that he’d do it.

Anyway, the basic gist was that when toy companies came calling -- and they did, in _droves_ \-- Tony got to decide who to play with. And for a long time, kids had to deal with shitty Chinese knockoffs because no one was good enough for Tony Stark.

But then Hot Toys and Mattel teamed up to form a lengthy line-up, ranging from Hot Toys’ signature hyper-realistic models to a Transformers-like version of the Hulk that folded out to turn Bruce’s humble facade into the angry green rage-monster they all knew and loved.

Bruce had to excuse himself from the meeting when they demo’d _that_ particular gem.

The lineup was impressive, and someone had obviously done their homework, reading through all of the SHIELD secrets Tasha’d dumped onto the ‘Net. There were action figures of Coulson, Fury, and Hill -- Coulson would pee himself with glee, but Fury and Hill were going to _slaughter Tony_ \-- as well as ones of Dr. Foster and her assistant, Peggy Carter in her WWII military uniform, and even _Tony’s dad_.

There were two pretty distinct exceptions.

Pepper firmly refused to allow Tony to have the rights to her image, as much as Tony wanted them. That explained one exception.

The other, Tasha didn’t have to jump to too many conclusions to figure out.

“Okay, so, I have a question,” Clint said, raising his hand, after he’d finished playing with the little Hawkeye toy that shot tiny arrows at its enemies from on high. The figurine didn’t look _anything_ like him, but other than the Hot Toys ones _none_ of them really did.

The Mattel representative looked at Clint, like he didn’t matter, and honestly he _didn’t_ \-- _Tony_ did, because he was the one who signed on the dotted line at the end of the day. But Tony swung to regard Clint too, like his opinion mattered, and suddenly the reps looked a lot more interested in listening to the archer.

“Yes?” she asked, polite.

“So you’ve got like, _everyone_ here,” Clint said, gesturing at the display. It was very impressive, really. “Even people who _aren’t in the Avengers_. Honestly, I’m surprised you didn’t make a _Loki_ one.” And at this, his nose wrinkled up and everyone went silent for a second as they reflected on his stint as Loki’s puppet.

Thor made a noise of disagreement, like he thought the idea of a Loki figurine was a _colossally_ bad idea. Tasha sort of agreed with him, and from the expressions on everyone else’s faces, they were all thinking along the same lines.

Bruce, who’d returned about ten minutes ago, interrupted Clint’s discussion to get to the meat of the matter, to what Clint had been building up to, and Tasha sighed just before he spoke.

“There’s no Black Widow,” he said, leaning forward to peer at the display.

Steve rolled his eyes. “Tasha hasn’t been reduced to a _novelty toy_. Lucky her.”

Clint and Bruce both stared at Steve like he was insane, but Tasha knew where Steve was coming from -- he’d been reduced to a novelty toy for a good chunk of his time during the war, _and_ after (seeing the list of the movies that’d been made about him after his “death” had reduced him to rage-filled splutters for a solid few hours after the revelation). This meeting had to be particularly distasteful for him.

Bruce spoke very slowly, picking his words with care. “While I’m not putting down Maria, Jane, Ms. Carter, or Darcy, there’s not a single female superhero in the lineup. SHIELD agent, astrophysicist, founding member of SHIELD, and poly sci major are admirable goals, great things for little girls to look up to, but I think they deserve a superhero of their own, too.”

“Lila would be _so excited_ to have an Aunt Tasha action figure,” Clint interjected. He looked put out at having been interrupted.

The Mattel rep looked a little squeamish. “Ah --” she began. “Well, you see, we have several female dolls _already_ , and the marketing department felt that with the --”

Tasha sighed again. “It’s alright,” she said, making a gesture and standing up. “I don’t _want_ little girls looking up to me.” She frowned. “They shouldn’t. I’ve done terrible things. I’m no role model.”

“There you have it,” Tony said. He looked troubled though; so did the majority of the team.

Tasha didn’t care. She left the room.

 

**# # # # #**

 

Tony was sufficiently impressed with the toy demo to ask them to come back in a few weeks with refined demos and packaging options for everyone to vote on. Surprisingly, he was being less autocratic about the Avengers Toys decision than he’d been about his own company, which he _wasn’t even CEO of anymore_.

Darcy’d learned somewhere along the way that an action figure of her was in the works and showed up with Jane in tow (the scientist had promptly disappeared with Thor and no one knew when they’d re-emerge). It was her who suggested, idly, during a _very large_ group meeting about the pros and cons of this whole damn toy thing, that maybe Tony was _touchy_ about the right to privacy with regards to one’s public image. Since, you know, his had been used against his wishes so many times.

“Weren’t you a political science major? You’re not my therapist,” Tony said, running on autopilot and almost no sleep -- he was on the verge of a major breakthrough in the new suit’s hydraulic system and he’d been working on it all night.

“Hey, I _minored_ in psych,” Darcy said, giving every evidence of being seriously offended. “Psychology is important in group dynamics.”

“I thought we were here to discuss _business_ ,” Steve said. He’d become far less cross at the idea of figurines when he learned that Peggy and her family would be getting royalties based on her line of toys; Sharon was doing pretty well for herself, but the rest of the family struggled under the cost of 24-hour care for an Alzheimer’s patient.

“Thor and Jane are missing,” Darcy said, innocently. “Seems rude to talk about it without them.”

“Hey, they knew this was happening,” Tony said. “They made the choice to play doctor instead of attending a _very important meeting_.”

Steve was quiet for a minute before sighing. “Peggy’s family isn’t here either.” He’d vetoed, immediately, _any_ Bucky action figures; he and Sam were still looking for the former assassin, and he felt like the man himself had the right to decide on that score. “And neither is Tasha.”

There was a silence.

“I thought she didn’t _want_ toys made of her?” Rhodey asked.

“You guys are _fuck-ignorant_ if you believed that shit,” Clint said, glaring at each of them in turn. “I mean, Nat probably legit thinks she’s a monster, because girl’s got _issues_ , but being left out like that, just like, summarily with no discussion beforehand?”

“Doesn’t get to play with the rest of us,” Darcy agreed. The door opened and Maria Hill arrived, dragging a disheveled-looking Thor and Jane behind her and looking cross. “Speaking of which, shouldn’t Coulson be here?”

“Super-Nanny marathon,” Tony said, and Maria rolled her eyes.

“He’s busy,” she said. “I have it on pretty good authority that he considers the action figure to be compensation for his ruined trading cards.”

Steve snorted, and like that, the meeting was back on track.

 

**# # # # #**

 

Tasha reflected, later on, that she should have attended the meeting rather than spying on it from above -- her and JARVIS had an _agreement_ \-- because from that point on, people _kept bringing it up_.

Clint, naturally, was first, because he was her best friend and knew her inside and out, but sometimes he was just _stupid_ and didn’t realize the difference between hurt and indifferent.

“Look,” he said, taking up his bow and one of his niftier arrows and aiming for the latest villain of the week, who was threatening Boston with giant robots ripped straight from Tony’s designs. “I’m not saying you don’t have your reasons and stuff but I just want to make sure you’re actually okay with not getting a doll.”

“They’re _action figures_ ,” Tasha corrected. She calmly ducked, avoiding one of the mini-robots before flicking a thin, flat throwing knife at the spot Tony’d pinpointed earlier that day as a part of the CPU. The robot crumpled in on itself, falling at her feet.

“Jesus Christ, fine, _action figure_ ,” Clint replied. He let his arrow fly, but robot-guy (they usually named themselves at some point, and Tasha couldn’t be bothered to remember every wannabe-Von-Doom-or-Loki’s supervillain name) ducked faster than he should have been able to.

“Cybernetic enhancements,” Tasha said, over comm. “Increased reaction time, probably something to make him tougher to take down. Cerebrally-enhanced, if I had to guess.”

“Oh, that, that is _good_ news,” Tony crooned, flying down from above. Bruce was Hulking around, smashing robots together with extreme prejudice, which meant they were down a scientist, so Tony it was. “If he’s got a cyber-brain, I can hack it. Give me a second. JARVIS?” The battle ended shortly after that, but in the meantime Tasha managed to get a laser burn on her left shoulder and Clint broke his leg.

Clint never did get back to her on the toy thing.

 

**# # # # #**

 

Pepper was next, which surprised Tasha. She thought for sure that Tony would approach her even though he was still sort of scared of her, or maybe Darcy, because Darcy didn’t have a filter or a sense of self-preservation.

Pepper was observant -- she _had_ to be, living with Tony Stark. She’d apparently been observant enough to pinpoint where Tasha liked to go when she wanted to be alone, which was decidedly _not_ her apartment in Avengers Tower.

It was windy on the roof, and Tasha took a moment to appreciate that Pepper had managed not to fall off the tower entirely, and to reach Tasha’s hiding spot while wearing _heels_.

The CEO of Stark Industries was polished, proper, and refined, but she wasn’t opposed to a little dirt, and she sat down next to Tasha without a care for her Louboutins or her couture Armani skirtsuit that probably cost several thousand dollars.

Pepper organized herself, taking the time to settle in. Tasha restrained the urge to sigh.

“Tony tells me you’re actively opposed to a Black Widow action figure,” Pepper said. She carefully did not look at Tasha when she said this, instead gazing out over New York City fondly, like it was her child graduating from kindergarten. Tasha got the feeling that Pepper, who was a lot smarter than most people gave her credit for, felt this way about the world in general -- like she expected a lot of them but had every confidence that they could do it, if only they _applied_ themselves.

“Do you really blame me?” Tasha responded. She felt like, out of all of them, Pepper deserved an honest answer, because the other woman never demanded things of her or treated her any different than she did anyone else, despite knowing that Tasha could kill her with those gorgeous Louboutins -- in fact, she knew about five _really effective ways_ to do it, and a few other less-effective ones.

Pepper sort of shrugged, the earrings she was wearing jingling as she did so. “I don’t have a real opinion on the issue because I don’t think I’m informed enough to have an opinion. It’s why I’m asking -- everyone’s pretty enthusiastic about the idea on the whole, with some minor quibbles. It’s money in the pocket, and it’s a good way to make people underestimate the Avengers, which can only help.” She finally looked toward Tasha. “You’re the only one who just doesn’t want anything to do with it, and I guess I’m curious.”

“And you want me to enlighten you.”

“If you’re up for it,” Pepper said, agreeably. “I’m not going to force you to talk about it, but if you’re willing, I’m willing.”

Tasha was quiet for a long time before she spoke again. “I did bad things, _terrible_ things. The stuff that got leaked to the ‘Net -- that’s not even _half_ of it.”

Pepper nodded, almost encouragingly, but not quite -- if Tasha wanted to stop, she could. And she was tempted. She knew the other woman would leave it be if she wanted to stop there. But Pepper, even though she hadn’t lived Tasha’s life, would understand her reasoning. Tasha wanted someone, _anyone_ , on her side in this. So, she continued.

“They got me when I was really young -- I think I was a toddler? And I’ve been training ever since then. I don’t even know when my real birthday is, just what the Red Room _said_ it was.” Tasha exhaled -- she’d never told anyone that before. “They experimented on us, too -- used the research from Steve’s project. I don’t know if I qualify as human. I can’t have kids, because they stole _that_ from me too.” Hell, even if she wanted to have one, she was too _broken_ to have a real relationship. “I don’t trust anyone, not even my _best friend_. I don’t think that’s who little girls should try to emulate.”

Pepper stayed silent throughout the whole confession, biting her lip and fiddling with a ring on her finger. After Tasha finished, she continued the silence as she parsed through the explanation.

“I get where you’re coming from,” Pepper began, a few minutes of quiet later. “I’ll respect your decision either way. But I think that a lot of us define ourselves by our past too much -- not a day goes by that I don’t remember that I was just a _secretary_ not even ten years ago, and think I’m not cut out for this running a company thing. Tony is so hung up on his dad that he emulates him in nearly every way despite the fact that he’s _nothing_ like the man at heart; Bruce is constantly looking back at what he used to have and comparing it to now. Steve, I don’t even think I have to talk about that, because his past was literally less than a year ago for him, but for us it was like five generations.”

She paused, and then sighed. “I can’t tell you what to do, and I _won’t_ , but I don’t think your past defines you like you think it does. What matters isn’t how you got here, but that you got here at all. And personally, I kind of like the person who arrived.”

With that, Pepper stood up and left Tasha to her thoughts.

 

**# # # # #**

 

Bruce brought it up near-daily, as the second meeting with Mattel loomed closer on the calendar. Tasha was completely unsurprised to discover that Bruce was something of a feminist, and that he really, _desperately_ wanted the only female superhero -- which Tasha thought was laughable; she wasn’t a superhero, she was just _surrounded_ by them -- to have a toy.

“The media informs us,” Bruce said, calmly, flipping a pancake and glancing at Tasha over the breakfast bar. “What kids play with growing up unconsciously helps form their worldview. Don’t you think that’s important?”

“Of course,” Tasha replied, taking a sip of her orange juice. This had become tradition for them -- Bruce made amazing breakfasts, and while Clint was only really ever in the Tower for Avengers business, the rest of them pretty much resided there, and so on weekends they all gathered in the big communal kitchen/dining area (rather than the smaller kitchens their apartments had) to consume whatever Bruce felt up to making that morning.

Tasha liked to come down early and watch him work. It was so at odds with what he was like mid-battle, all rage and green and fury. Bruce cooking, and watching him do it, was strangely zen.

“So why don’t you want to do this?” Bruce asked.

Tasha closed her eyes and inhaled, trying not to lose her temper. She’d gotten all the questions -- from Tony, from Clint, from Pepper, from Sam, even from _Coulson_ , who’d called long-distance from somewhere in northern Africa to ponder why anyone _wouldn’t_ want an action figure. Bruce’s arguments were more reasonable, but --

“I don’t _want_ it,” Tasha stressed. “I’m asking you to take that at face value. I don’t want it and I don’t appreciate people questioning my judgement.”

Bruce blinked and Tasha realized she hadn’t put it quite that way before.

“Okay,” Bruce said. And that was _that_ \-- she didn’t hear another peep about it from him again.

 

**# # # # #**

 

 _Darcy_ , though.

Darcy was something of a mystery to Tasha. All of the snark that kept Tony so buoyant mid-battle, mixed with some of Tasha’s own sex appeal and Bruce’s intelligence and Steve’s passionate nature, bundled up into a tiny, bouncing, feminine poli-sci enthusiast. Last Tasha had inquired, Darcy was trying to convince Tony to let her run PR for the Avengers, despite the fact that he had an entire team dedicated to _just that_. Tasha gave it another six months, max, before Stark broke down and allowed it -- he and Darcy had this weird relationship where they alternately hated each other and were best friends. This usually depended on how much either of them had had to drink recently.

Darcy also had no self-preservation instinct with regards to her mouth, which was _completely_ at odds with how Tasha lived her own life.

All of these things combined made Darcy difficult to predict. Some days she was moody and uncommunicative, and some days she would not. Shut. _Up_. So Tasha was understandably confused and alarmed when Darcy -- indefensible little Darcy, who wouldn’t _ever_ see it coming if Tasha decided to take her out -- managed to corner her just outside her apartment in the Tower, late the night before the second Mattel-Hot Toys meeting.

And it was well-executed. Darcy’d managed to cut off the only escape path, and was practically _vibrating_ in her need to express herself.

“Look at this,” she demanded, thrusting her phone at Tasha.

Tasha frowned at her. “Why?” she asked, pushing the phone back toward Darcy.

“It’s a _Black Widow_ fansite,” Darcy said, flicking the phone back on when it went to sleep and shoving it toward Tasha’s face. “And it’s just the first one on the Google search page. There’s like a million results for that search string, okay? And there’s an _entire subforum_ on this site dedicated to modding Barbies to look like you. Black Widow figurines _already exist_. FYI, I have learned some _amazing_ ways to use EL wire from this subforum, so thanks for that.”

Tasha raised her eyebrow and pushed the other woman’s arm down. Darcy, completely oblivious, plowed on.

“When I was seven I wanted a President Barbie, and there wasn’t one,” Darcy said. “My mom _laughed_ at me and said Barbie could never be president, it was a _hard job_.”

Tasha crossed her arms. She had a feeling she knew where this was going and she wasn’t comfortable with it, _at all_.

“And when I was ten my little brother had a Wonder Woman action figure,” Darcy continued. “It used to be mine but he stole it from me and he _loved_ it. Wonder Woman was his favorite thing _ever_. And my uncle took it away from him because if it’s a boy, it’s an action figure and that’s okay, but if it’s a girl it’s a doll and boys can’t play with dolls. And Davie _adored_ Diana, okay? She was his _hero_. And now he’s in jail, alright? Cuz he beat the shit out of his girlfriend. Cuz little boys can’t idolize women -- he should’ve had a Superman doll. Right?” Darcy was really agitated, and Tasha started to realize that maybe this had been building up for the entire three weeks between the first and second meetings.

“I don’t --”

“I never got President Barbie,” Darcy said. “But you know, you saved the world -- _twice_. From Loki _and_ from Hydra. I _got_ my hero -- and that’s _all out there now_. Everyone _knows_ what you did. Everyone knows you closed the portal. Everyone knows you took down Hydra with Cap. Everyone knows you willingly leaked your own information out to save the planet. Okay? _Everyone knows that_. They know your past and they don’t care. _I_ don’t care.”

Darcy was breathing hard at this point, pissed beyond caring how loud she was getting. “You’re the only Wonder Woman this world has, okay? And I don’t want little girls to see the Avengers toys and think, where’s the one who actually did all the hard work? And I don’t want little boys to be like Davie and think they can’t have women heroes. And goddamnit, _I want a Black Widow action figure_.”

Her hands were clenched at her sides, her phone creaking alarmingly in her grip.

“I want one,” Darcy said, forcing herself to calm down a little bit. “I want one for myself, because you’re _awesome_ , and I want one to give to my niece, because her dad’s in jail and she needs someone badass to look up to. I want one for all the little girls who need someone strong to protect them at night, and for all the little boys who might turn into Davie some day. And I don’t think that’s a bad thing, okay? And if you do -- if you do then you’re an _asshole_.”

Having said her bit, Darcy nodded, like she’d made her point, and then, huffing to herself, she stormed off, back toward the elevator that would take her to the guest quarters.

And Tasha --

Tasha was remembering when she was just learning to parse sentences properly.

She was remembering the stuffed animal she’d had -- her only friend, the only remnant from her old life. It was a little ballerina bear, with a stuffed wand attached at the hand and a permanent, sewed-on smile. It’s name was Juliette, and it was the only kindness in her life, because the Red Room started young.

And she was remembering how they’d taken _that_ from her, too.

It was a _crutch_ , they’d said.

But she was older now. She knew what they’d meant -- it wasn’t a _crutch_. It was _kindness_ , and kindness wasn’t needed in her life.

The life they’d chosen _for_ her. Not the one she’d chosen for herself -- the one she had now.

Decision made, Natasha returned to her room. She had an e-mail to draft.

 

**# # # # #**

 

Tony Stark _did_ , in fact, sleep, contrary to popular rumor. But it was true that he perhaps slept _less_ than most people did; an overactive mind combined with rampant insomnia and probably a plethora of undiagnosed mental issues made sleep difficult to come by, and so he filled those hours _making things_.

It was like 3 a.m., and Pepper was sleeping upstairs. Tony was in his workshop, perfecting the backup AI -- FRIDAY -- which JARVIS seemed somewhat put-out by, but not enough to not alert him when he received an e-mail.

“Sir, you’ve received an e-mail from Ms. Romanoff,” the AI said, and he _still_ sounded pissy, good _God_ , it was like he didn’t understand that he wasn’t invincible -- an artificial intelligence was probably more invincible than _most_ , but Tennessee had taught Tony that sometimes JARVIS failed and as much as he’d mourn the program that had become so much more to him, he needed to be able to jump back on the horse as quickly as possible in the event that JARVIS’ databanks became corrupted.

Besides, FRIDAY was a girl-program, at least Tony was _intending_ it that way, one never knew how an AI would develop, could AI’s even _be_ transgender, did they even have a _concept_ of gender? _Fuck_ , he should write a paper on that, he bet it’d be a grand slam with the academics at Berkeley --

 _Anyway_ , FRIDAY was a girl-program and part of him was hoping JARVIS and her would hit it off and make AI-babies, or whatever it was lines of code did, _Jesus Christ_ this kind of thinking was _terrifying_ \--

“Sir?” JARVIS asked, and Tony shook himself out of his own thought process, reviewing the last several seconds of interaction before speaking. “Wait, from _Tasha_? About what?”

“About the toy line. Which you have a meeting about in approximately five hours,” and JARVIS was a bro, a solid _bro_ , reminding him that he needed sleep just like everyone else, even if it was a smaller amount, _even when the AI was pissed at him_.

“JARVIS, I wish I could give you a raise,” Tony informed him.

“I have access to all of your bank accounts, sir,” JARVIS replied, and yeah, he was still pissed.

Tony opened the e-mail, expecting it to be yet another short missive on how everyone needed to leave Tasha the fuck alone about the toy line. He almost deleted it on-sight, but something stopped him, and _boy_ , was he glad he did.

The first line caught his eye and a smile started, which quickly spread into a full-on grin as he finished reading it. Then, just to make sure he wasn’t hallucinating, he re-read it, and prodded JARVIS to read it back to him -- in Tasha’s voice, even, because Tony could do that so why the fuck not?

“So I’m not dreaming, right? Tasha _actually_ sent this?”

“I’ve not found any indication that it was falsified, sir,” JARVIS replied. He seemed like he was in better spirits now that Tony had a distraction from the new AI.

“Right,” Tony said, nodding, and he began waking up other parts of his workspace. “I have some work to do. Bring up the fabricators, would ya, JARVIS?”

“A pleasure, sir.”

 

**# # # # #**

 

The Mattel rep was late -- which pissed off the Hot Toys rep something fierce, but actually worked out in Tony’s favor because the fabricators didn’t finish extruding until around 8:05 and the meeting was slated for 8 a.m. He breezed in at 8:10 with a cart full of boxes and bags but didn’t answer anyone’s curious looks, just parked it near where the Hot Toys rep was sitting before finding his spot at the very large table everyone was sitting at.

Tasha managed to enter _after_ the Mattel rep did, probably out of spite or something, wouldn’t surprise Tony at all, Tasha was _one scary motherfucker_ and he knew Bruce _and_ Nick Fury -- and _Coulson_ , who Tony’d heard rumors about involving a bag of flour and a convenience store -- so that was saying something. The Mattel rep looked seriously nervous when Tasha walked in, all professional-looking (and Tony was almost positive she didn’t own that skirtsuit, did she borrow it from Pepper or hack into his bank account again? Hacking was a strong word, Tasha and JARVIS were like besties these days, it would surprise him exactly not at all to find out JARVIS had slipped her the cash for a nice skirtsuit from one of Tony’s slush funds), and sat next to Tony like they actually got along on the regular.

For _this_ meeting, Tony would play along with it. Besides, it was worth it to see the expression on Clint’s face. The archer looked confused, but he had resting bitch-face so it made it seem like he was both constipated and dying of heartbreak.

The reps stood up and did their spiel, showing off the improved demos and some examples of packaging for the various toys. Lots of things were discussed -- the ones where they’d actually have to record lines for talking toys were almost immediately shot down -- and finally something resembling an agreement was reached.

Which was when Tony struck.

“So here’s the thing,” Tony said, interrupting the Hot Toys rep. “You guys have some great stuff here, I’m actually impressed, and I don’t get impressed easily, okay? You have my attention. And you’ve taken a lot of pains to be inclusive, too -- you’ve got women, you’ve got black guys, you’ve got pre-serum Steve for the handicapped kids. It’s _great_. But see, you’re missing a vital part of our team and I can’t help but think that it’s deliberate on your parts.”

Both reps froze.

Tasha smiled. It was terrifying.

“Black Widow was integral to uniting the Avengers,” Tony continued. “ _She’s_ the one who stopped Loki’s assault. _She’s_ the one who leaked SHIELD’s databanks and stopped Hydra from taking over. Hell, she was pretty instrumental in taking down Hammer Corp., which if you’ll remember was some dangerous shit in its own right. There wouldn’t _be_ an Avengers team if it weren’t for her, and I think it’s downright fucking insulting that you’d leave her out.”

Bruce was staring at the two of them in awe. “I thought --”

“I changed my mind,” Tasha said, still smiling. Then she turned the smile back toward the reps.

“Basically, we’re interested,” Tony said. “But I’m not signing anything unless you include Tasha.”

“But -- but that’s _weeks_ of design and production,” the Mattel rep spluttered.

Tony held his index finger up and jumped out of his seat. “Maybe if you’re not me,” he said, and it was oddly _not_ patronizing in the slightest, which was confusing for pretty much everyone in the room -- just, Tony, acknowledging that he routinely performed miracles, no big deal, nothing special. _Weird_.

He made his way to the cart he’d parked by the Hot Toys rep -- had to remember to get that back down to catering at some point -- and began pulling boxes and bags off of it, setting them on the table and opening them.

Inside were toys. All featuring Tasha. Versions of the same ones Mattel and Hot Toys were planning, from crude plastic figures that may as well be army men, all the way to the hyper-realistic Uncanny Valley ones, and everything in between. He even had one that lit up and made the same noise her stingers did. That one came with a toy motorcycle; Tasha rather liked it.

“I have the plans, all ready to go,” Tony said. “All you guys have to do is provide the same type of packaging we’ve agreed on, and agree to include them in the line-up, and I’ll hand them over, free of charge.” With that, he made his way back to his seat and lowered himself into it; Tasha thought he looked exhausted but _extremely_ satisfied. Tony Stark _lived_ to fuck people’s days up.

Everyone at the table -- all of the Avengers, Maria (acting on her behalf and that of Coulson, who was on some mission in Kiev), Sharon Carter ( _not_ Nick Fury, who everyone still thought was dead but Tony was terrified to piss off by OKing a toy of him), Darcy, Jane, everyone -- started passing the toys around. They were pretty high-quality, considering Tony’s extrusion machines weren’t exactly designed for toy creation.

“ _Yo_ ,” Darcy said, waving the light-up Tasha figurine around. “Can I have this?”

“No,” Tasha said, right as Tony said, “Yes.”

Tony looked at her and she crossed her arms. “ _I_ want it. She can have the creepy one with hair.”

“Deal,” Darcy said, slapping the table, and Sam snorted loudly, which brought everyone’s attention back to the reps -- he was sitting right next to them.

“I --” the Mattel rep was hedging, and she maybe had a point, because Black Widow’s history was out there, well-known, and Mattel was a family-friendly company who wouldn’t want to be associated with her.

Tasha found, with sudden intensity, that she _didn’t care_. Hot Toys was all for it, if she read his body language right. This was happening.

“Let me repeat,” Tony said, having apparently read the same things Tasha had. “If you don’t add Black Widow to the line-up, I’m not signing, and no one else is either. Right?”

There were murmurs and nods around the room; the Avengers might in-fight a lot but they always presented a united front in the face of an enemy.

“I need to make a phone call,” the Mattel rep said. The Hot Toys rep looked infuriated, but Tony acknowledged that she didn’t have the authority to make that kind of decision on her own, which seemed to fluster her even more, and the reps both left the room.

Darcy pounced as soon as the door closed behind them. “ _Hell_ yeah! Black Widow action figures!” she said, grinning and slapping the table. She pointed at Tasha with... _Tasha_. The Hot Toys Tasha. “I’m giving her to my niece.”

Tasha regarded her for a second and then smiled, a real, non-scary smile. “I would be honored to stand guard over her every night,” she said.

 

**# # # # #**

 

Fifteen minutes later, the deal was signed. The Avengers had a for-real, official line of toys and action figures. Tony immediately crashed, hard, and slept for a record-breaking five hours; Bruce locked himself in the closest Hulk-proof room and got _incredibly_ drunk. Steve considered joining him, because a drunk Hulk was a pretty funny Hulk who was less ragey and more mopey, but instead he and Thor broke out the Asgard-strength mead and did their own commiserating.

When the news broke three weeks later it practically broke the Internet, and pre-orders of the Black Widow action figures were through the _roof_. It opened up the way for other merchandise, and Tony began fielding offers for apparel, endorsements, and actual interviews instead of ratings-fodder.

Tasha got her first check a month after the toy release, along with a package from Darcy containing a, “Be careful -- I bite!” Black Widow-branded T-shirt she’d found in Phoenix.

The check was pretty sizeable. She spent a long time staring at the figure in her living room, ignoring the knock on the door when Clint came by to yammer about it and how he’d be able to renovate his living room without taking out a loan now. He was a grown-ass man and he still couldn’t manage money to save his life. She wondered, sometimes, how he’d managed to keep Laura from killing him in his sleep over the years.

Tasha hadn’t thought about the monetary aspect of it, hadn’t considered it at _all_ really. And now it was staring her in the face -- enough money to cover her expenses for a year or more, and that was just pre-orders on the Hot Toys figurines. All of the other merchandise -- toys, apparel, a line of throwing knives aimed at adult fans, even wigs and Halloween costumes -- would make it so she’d never worry about money ever again (not that she had particularly worried about it before -- SHIELD paid okay, back then, and if not, well, _she knew Tony Stark_ ).

And it would keep coming in, probably slower after a while, but it _would_ , until the day she died. _If_ she could die. No one was really sure -- the Red Room had never been specific about the alterations they made, and they were different for every one of the girls. She could be getting paid in perpetuity, who knew.

She stared at the check some more, at all of those zeroes. And then she made a decision.

The next day, she donated the entire thing to Doctors Without Borders. And the next month, to the Not For Sale campaign. And the next, Amnesty International.

Kids had paid for those action figures, and those kids’ money was what she was holding in her hand every time she got a check. She’d put it to good use.

She owed it to them.

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> The title is an obvious reference to Russian nesting dolls, and thus a reference to both dolls/action figures and the many layers that make up Natasha Romanoff. HOWEVER, in my travels I also learned that Matryoshka are associated with motherhood -- the biggest doll has a "family" inside of her. Because I chose to keep Tasha's sterility from AoU a thing -- although I like to think I handled that better than Whedon did, because _ew_ , that doesn't make you a monster, Tasha -- I like to think it's also a reference to her accepting becoming a guardian for all of those kids who need it. I expect that if Darcy ever told her that her niece needed help or was being abused, Nat would show up in a heartbeat and beat someone's skull in. Like a good momma would. ;)


End file.
